معرفی
Justin Driver is the Robert R. Slaughter Professor of Law at Yale Law School, where he teaches Constitutional Law, Education Law, Narratives from Prison, and The Law of Racial Inequality. He is a leading scholar in constitutional law, with a particular focus on students’ rights, civic education, and the intersection of law and public schooling. A graduate of Brown, Oxford (as a Marshall Scholar), Duke, and Harvard Law School, Driver has held teaching positions at Harvard, Stanford, the University of Chicago, the University of Texas, the University of Virginia, and Westville Correctional Facility. He clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court.
- B.A., Brown University, 1997
- M.A., Duke University, 1998
- M.S., Oxford University, 2000
- J.D., Harvard Law School, 2004
Driver’s research centers on constitutional law, education law, and the First Amendment, with a strong emphasis on how the Supreme Court shapes the rights of students in public schools. His work explores the legal foundations of civic education, racial inequality in education, and the constitutional limits of school authority. He advocates for a 'student-centered civic education' model that empowers young people to understand and assert their constitutional rights.
His publications include influential law review articles and two major books. His first book, The Schoolhouse Gate: Public Education, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for the American Mind (2018), has been widely acclaimed, named a Washington Post Notable Book and an Editors’ Choice of The New York Times Book Review, and awarded the Steven S. Goldberg Award. His forthcoming book, The Fall of Affirmative Action: Race, the Supreme Court, and the Future of Higher Education (September 2025), analyzes the legal and social consequences of the Supreme Court’s recent decisions on race-conscious admissions.
Driver has received numerous honors, including the William Nelson Cromwell Article Prize, election to the American Law Institute, and fellowship in the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. President Biden appointed him to the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States and to the Holmes Devise Committee, which produces the official history of the U.S. Supreme Court.
He has advised on civic education initiatives and co-leads a program placing Yale Law students in New Haven public schools to teach constitutional law. He has written extensively for public audiences in The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The New Republic. He has also served as a commentator in high-profile legal symposia and moderated events with Supreme Court justices.
Driver is actively involved in public discourse on constitutional law, frequently cited in Supreme Court decisions and consulted on issues involving religious exemptions, LGBTQ+ rights in schools, and the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education. His work continues to shape legal and educational debates across the nation.
